When to Return to Work After Injury? And What Are Your Options If You Haven’t Fully Recovered

It’s equally vital to be legally represented by a Salt Lake City motorcycle accident lawyer if you truly want to seek compensation for your injuries and damages, including loss of capacity, lost wages and medicals bills. Call us today at 801-451-9555 or complete this contact form for a free case evaluation.

When to Return to Work After Injury? And What Are Your Options If You Haven’t Fully Recovered

Home > Blog > When to Return to Work After Injury? And What Are Your Options If You Haven’t Fully Recovered

Posted On Feb, 17, 2018 By jardinelawoffices

If you get into a motorcycle accident – or any other motor vehicle accident, for that matter – it would make sense to take all the time you need to recover 100% before returning to work.

But unfortunately, it’s not what happens in the vast majority of cases. In reality, injured Americans are forced to return to work even when they haven’t fully recovered from an accident just because they couldn’t get compensation for their injuries and damages.

Whether a victim couldn’t negotiate a fair deal to collect damages for lost wages and diminished earning capacity, or his/her insurer fooled them around with unfair insurance claim practices, the outcome is the same: an injured person clearly can’t work yet, but he/she has no choice but to return to his/her work activities to earn a living and avoid getting fired.

It may seem absurd, but this situation happens to a large number of people who sustain injuries in motorcycle accidents. Today, our Salt Lake City motorcycle accident attorney at Jardine Law Offices, P.C. is going to review all your options in this particular situation.

Short-term solutions if you can’t work yet

First of all, it’s important to understand that even if a motorcycle accident was caused by someone else’s fault, no one is going to stand up for your interests and pay your medical bills and lost wages, and compensate for your lost earning capacity, for months or years before you fully recover. And it’s certainly not your insurance company.

What happens is that after you get injured in a motorcycle accident, you have to FIGHT fiercely in and outside of court in order to get the liable party to cover your expenses, thus making your speedy recovery POSSIBLE.

But here’s the deal: unless you’re represented by a motorcycle accident lawyer, your chances of obtaining fair and quick compensation for at least half of the losses and damages incurred as a result of injuries is extremely low.

Our best lawyers at Jardine Law Offices, P.C. provide you with a list of options of what you can do when you nobody is covering your medical expenses– not to mention lost wages – and you have no choice but to return to work even though you’re still in pain and haven’t fully recovered:

If you have sick leave and vacation time, it’s about time to use it now. It’s a short-term solution, but every week and every day counts.

If you have short-term disability insurance, take advantage of it. Depending on your company’s policies, however, you may have to wait weeks before short-term disability insurance takes effect.

You could also donate your own sick leave and vacation time to your employer’s so-called “bank” of hours that you can use to compensate for your lost wages. However, not all companies in Salt Lake City and elsewhere in Utah allow employees to do that.

Seek the legal advice of a skilled attorney to find out whether or not you could protect your job under the Family Medical Leave Act, and use that time to fully recover. DO note, however, that your wages stop coming in as soon as you protect your job (but the benefits are obvious: you won’t get fired).

When should you go back to work after an injury?

It would make sense to say that it largely depends on the severity of your injuries. If you suffered catastrophic injuries and cannot perform your work activities like you could before the motorcycle accident, it’s obvious that you won’t be able to return to work right after your release from the hospital.

However, if your injuries are minor – or they do not limit your earning capacity and working after an injury does not pose health risks – then you should try to get back to work as soon as possible in order to be able to pay your bills.

But it’s vital to speak to a medical professional who’d evaluate the severity of your injuries and advise you on which types of activities you should steer clear of in the workplace to not aggravate your injuries (for example, no lifting).

It’s equally vital to be legally represented by a Salt Lake City motorcycle accident lawyer if you truly want to seek compensation for your injuries and damages, including loss of capacity, lost wages and medicals bills. Contact our attorneys at Jardine Law Offices, P.C. to estimate the full value of your personal injury claim and find out the best strategy to get your insurance company to cover your expenses.